In the novel, Number the Stars, Louis Lowry begins this novel with a bang by first describing Annemarie’s frightening encounter with German soldiers in the first chapter. This historical fiction novel takes place during the Holocaust.
Annemarie explains the world through the eyes of a 10-year old. I believe this novel would be an excellent mentor text for teaching children how to explain a historical event through the eyes of a character (child, parent, teacher, neighbor, grandparent, etc.) The author takes complicated historical events and simplifies events within the 10-year old perspective.
For example,
“The Resistance fighters were Danish people—no one knew who, because they were very secret—who were determined to bring harm to the Nazis however they could. They damaged the German trucks and cars, and bombed their factories. They were very brave. Sometimes they were caught and killed. (1.55)
She boils this down to just the essential—just the information a 10-year-old needs to know.
So, by “reading like a writer,” I thought about how I would use this wonderfully written historical fiction novel as a mentor text for historical fiction. In the elementary setting, Social Studies must be integrated into literacy. So, as a writing extension, have student “show what they know” about XX [insert historical event such as the Boston Tea Party] by writing a narrative of the story told through the eyes of a character living at that time. Wish I would’ve thought of this when I was a 5th-grade teacher!
This really is a great book. It’s been sooo long since I’ve read it and I’m flying through it this second time around.
Until next week,
Dr. K.
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